In the inserter field, it is known to have a modular inserter system comprising various types of modules that can be combined to form inserter machines which meet the particular needs of each user. The types of modules that may be combined to form an inserter machine include, but are not limited to, envelope feeder, insert feeder, envelope feeder, folder, accumulator and insert station modules. Heretofore, document, insert and envelope feeders have been rigidly coupled to the frame of the inserter machine. Generally, the close proximity of the document and insert feeders has made it difficult to access the paper path underlying the second document feeder to clear document jams. This has been a common problem, especially for table top inserters where the amount of space within and between feeders is limited.
An example of a modular table top inserter system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,942,535, issued Jul. 17, 1990, to Robert J. Francisco and assigned to the assignee of the present invention. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,104,112, issued Apr. 14, 1992, to Francis J. Briggs, et al. and assigned to the assignee of the present invention, a feeder that is suitable for feeding documents, inserts or envelopes is disclosed having a reversibly positioned direct drive separator assembly motor. The document feeder is suitable for use as document, insert and envelope feeders in a modular table top inserting machine, such as the Pitney Bowes Spectrum.TM. inserting system. In each configuration of the inserter system, at least one of the feeder modules includes an underlying document transport.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,164,906, issued Nov. 17, 1992, to Susan Mahmoodi, et al. and assigned to the assignee of the present invention, a submodule feeder arrangement is disclosed in which a first document feeder feeds a document to a document transport path which passes beneath a second document feeder which is immediately adjacent to the first document feeder. In this arrangement the feeders are in closer proximity than if two separate feeder modules were used.
Other document feeder assemblies are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,007,181, issued Mar. 7, 1978 to L. Asher, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,501,417, issued Feb. 26, 1985, to D. Foster, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,728,095, issued Mar. 1, 1988, to R. Irvine, et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 4,635,922, issued Jan. 13, 1987, to F. Roetter, et al., all being assigned to the assignee of the present invention.
All of the foregoing feeder assemblies share the same problem of limited accessibility to the document paper path underlying the feeder assembly. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,180,157, issued Jan. 19, 1993, to T. Helit, et al. and assigned to the assignee of the present invention, a self-contained transport apparatus with a drawer mount is disclosed for providing access to a document transport path underlying a document feeder. Although the drawer mount provides a suitable means for access to the document transport, it is a complex structure that is more suitable for console inserting machines that are much larger in size and have much larger document feeders than table top inserting machines.
It is an object of the present invention to provide simple access to the document path underlying a feeder assembly. It is a further object to improve access to the document path between feeder assemblies.